


Deeper Into the Depth

by HunterJamie



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Leon is feeling his damages, Minor Character Deaths, No animals will be hurt, Only zombie animals, Original Characters - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some Sherry Birkin/Jake Muller, Traps, Viruses, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-10-16 11:36:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17548949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterJamie/pseuds/HunterJamie
Summary: After the incidents with the C-Virus, the BSAA get a call from a man only known as 'C'. He tells them about a private facility run by 'The Family'. By no means the only one, the BSAA go to check it out to see the legitimacy of the claim. The children of Umbrella scientists, Albert Wesker and William Birkin, join them.When they get separated, Sherry can only hope Jake can get out alive with C by his side and an infected man that they discovered inside.





	1. Petermann Mountain

Greenland was known for its land being covered in ice and cold. The winds could be quite freezing, leaving the bones chilled to the core. But even with hot breaths fogging in the air, there was no denying that the land had quite a beauty when looking over the landscape. If it wasn’t for the dire situation, a certain man would have sat there and observed the view as often as he could, taking it all in.

The dark-haired man walked over some stones, panting some as he reached the top of yet another peak. His mask helped to make sure that his lungs didn’t freeze as he gasped a bit, trying to keep from passing out. It was not that he was struggling to climb, but the lack of sleep he had endured the night before was giving him difficulties. His hood would have been up, but the icy winds helped make sure he remained awake as he headed to his destination.

The Petermann Mountain was not far from where he was and that was where he needed to go. Unbeknownst to the people who lived on that large island, a huge threat was built right under the mountain. The only reason he knew of it was that he had hacked into the systems of the company that ran it all. Umbrella may have fallen, but there was no way for their atrocities to be completely shut down yet. Proof of that was Neo-Umbrella. It was still a shock to the system that they had managed to kill the president. It would be quite some time before the effects of his death would ease up.

This facility had been kept a secret for too long. The man that was heading there was already armed and ready to go in once the BSAA, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, got there. They were already on their way once he contacted them. They were sending a small team to check out the credibility of the information, but they will discover it is legitimate. The man didn’t stay there for over four months to see if the information was false for nothing.

Speaking of the BSAA…

The radio that the man carried went off, a voice speaking through. If it wasn’t for the fact it was specially made, the signal would have been choppy. It was a blessing that the message came through quite clearly. “Mr. C, come in. I repeat: Mr. C, come in.”

Oh, how he hated going by that name. But it wasn’t like he was going to give them his real name anytime soon. He knelt down into the snow and put his hood up finally to help block out the wind. He pulled his mask off and shuttered as the cold hit his skin. He narrowed his brown eyes as he pulled the radio out to talk into it. “Yeah, I am here. What is your ETA?” He had already given then the coordinates in which to meet him safely. He still had about a kilometer to go, though, and that was if he had a straight bridge to walk on. This was a mountain range he was going over.

“We have about an hour to get there. It may take longer though because of the winds,” which was way more than understandable. It was harsh at the moment. With winter being in full season, the winds could be killer with the ice and snow.

The man sighed some and looked around before speaking up again. “Take your time. I had a few difficulties and may be a little late as it is.” He stood up, starting to walk again. It was only luck that he found a slightly smooth path to walk on. “I may have well over two hours before reaching our rendezvous. These mountains are not exactly being kind.” He was not hiding his exhaustion too much.

There was silence on the other end for a moment as he reached the end of the path. He was going to need to climb down now. Shame he couldn’t have a grappling hook or anything. With how the winds were, the hook would be a waste of time. Carefully, he turned, getting the ice ax ready to help him down the slope. For just a split moment, he wondered why they didn’t call it a pick-

“Do you think you can camp out until we reach you?” The man stopped and looked at the radio. Well, he wasn’t too sure how that was supposed to work. Moving around helped him keep his body warm. It was pretty damn cold and the sun was starting to head down for a bit. There was no way he could handle the chill. Though, if he could manage to get a bit of shelter, using the snow around him, and build a small fire, he might be able to survive for an hour. It wouldn’t be easy at all. However, it was worth a try.

He lifted the radio up. There was a bit of hope in his voice. “Are you really offering? I can light a fire to help you locate me if that is a case.” He was really itching to warm up. He could just barely feel his toes.

The man on the line chuckled some. “Mr. C, you better get yourself warm. We don’t need you frozen stiff just trying to get us closer to this facility.”

“Bring me some hot chocolate while you are at it,” He couldn't help but crack a smile. He looked around some. “I will be on the east side heading north.” He got onto the ground, pushing some of the snow to one side as he made a clearing.

The final message was “Copy that, over and out” before all that was heard was static. The man put his mask back on as he started to make a makeshift shelter out of the snow. He managed to pack it tightly enough that the wind didn’t blow it too much. Thankfully, he had a bit of wood left from his last camp out. He set up the kinder and lit it underneath the larger chunks of wood. It wasn’t too bad for a small fire, but as long as it gave off a bit of warmth, the man was not complaining. It was going to be a long hour as it was. After the larger chunks were good and ablaze, he let the hood and mask come off as well as his gloves.

As time went by, he ate a bit of the jerky that was left as well as reviewed the mapping for the facility. It was large; at least 100,000 people could fit in it comfortably with four people sharing a bedroom if they had been bunking together. And the largest room, more than likely a cafeteria or auditorium, could fit maybe half of them at a time. All the labs were on the second level down. And by what he could tell, as well as the one who helped him find the place, the third level was the technological room, holding all the information anyone needed. Everything from the beginning of Umbrella, to the start of Tri-Cell, to the near end of Neo-Umbrella was in that level. The viruses kept and experimented on, the ones that were discontinued and mutated were recorded as well as all the monsters that were made. The most important information was the genetic structures of each virus. With that information, cures might be made possible with small samples. That wasn’t what he was wanting, but it would be a major help to the world.

Neo-Umbrella was still a threat. It didn’t matter what happened, the C-virus was still going strong, and it had already been a year since Derek Simmons death. Tatchi was still being cleaned up after the virus had been released, as well as the mess from Tall Oaks. At least that situation was almost complete. There was word that a town would not be built there, though, just a memorial for everyone who had been killed, including those in Raccoon City and Kijuju. Whatever the choice, at least the truth of what happened was revealed. That woman, Helena Harper, and Leon Kennedy were let off the hook. It had been on secured government websites about the two being on top of the suspect list for the death of President Benford. Them being clear almost seemed a relief since they were such a big help during clean up. Hopefully, those would be the last places affected from such devastations. Unfortunately, knowing the companies, their resilience would cause more trouble eventually.

The man, C as he was now called, sat with his hands warming up near the fire. He looked up at the sky. It was a long time ago that he had been involved with a disaster, but the memories were still plaguing him. He was actually wondering if he could handle going through another lab. The first time was hard enough as it was. This time, though? There were a lot of different factors that were involved now. He was older for one thing, no longer in his prime. But of course, it was his health that might be a problem. He wasn’t like the soldiers that were coming in. He wasn’t able to keep up like them.

 _Well, you need to go through this. You made a choice and you need to stick to it_. Of course, that was harder to do now. But there was no way he would back down. He had been out of commission for quite some time. It was better now to step up and do more than what he had in the past. Besides, he knew more about this facility than the others. They needed him.

The helicopter lurched a bit as another harsh wind hit the machine. The five passangers inside held onto the walls the best they could. The blonde of the group groaned a bit as she tried to look out the window. She was nervous. With how their contact sounded, this was one heart of many to a lot of things. So there was no way they could mess up. This was now or never. She looked at the crew. Most wore uniforms, the B.S.A.A. patches on their shoulders. She and one other were the outcasts in this group. Her eyes landed on the man in question. His reddish hair had grown since the last time she saw him. Jake said he didn’t have a lot of time to shave his head so he just let it grow. It looked odd on him. It was relieving that his hair wasn’t blond. She didn’t think she could handle it if he looked too much like his father.

He had his eyes closed. This wasn’t exactly something he had planned on doing. However, the government had actually offered to pay him money. After everything, he was still a mercenary. There were just a lot fewer people that he would be willing to work for. He also had a few different payment plans from before. TerraSave was one of the few he would work with for free. He just couldn’t bother getting paid for his blood samples. There was a difference between this moment and saving lives. Right now, he could care less and would much rather be at home.

Sherry smiled. The man had moved in with her after a few months. His place had gotten trashed while he was away and he didn’t want to bother finding a new apartment. Instead, the woman was woken up to knocking and him asking to stay. The company was actually appreciated. She didn’t much like being alone anymore. Even though he was a pain sometimes, Jake made her feel safe. It was one of the reasons why she encouraged him to come with her when he was offered money.

“So… Why does this guy call himself ‘C’?” Jake was bored. It was obvious with how his head was leaned back and his arms were crossed. Living together for a few months made it easy to start reading someone’s body language. His foot was also tapping to get pent up energy out. Getting out and about would be something he really wanted to do.

Sherry got her new phone out and went through the information she had. It was actually issued by TerraSave after she got rid of the one Simmons got her. “We don’t know. He didn’t give a lot of information on himself when he contacted us. All we know is he said that there is a facility and that he would meet us there.” Of course, the plans changed a little and they were picking this guy up. It didn’t sound like too much of a problem. They had a good pilot. Sgt. Dani Lefay was one of the best in the B.S.A.A, originally recruited from the Coast Guard. He did amazingly well during Hurricanes and saving people when a large storm hit the waters. Knowing that the team was being sent to a very windy area, the best was needed.

The man hummed a bit and shook his head. “I don’t like the fact we don’t know him.” He leaned forward a bit as he looked out the window. How did they know he was a friendly? What if he was leading the group into a trap? It could easily be like what happened in Endonia. That was something he did not want to go through or hear about again. He found out what happened to all those soldiers he met before getting kidnapped. He hated the feeling that only two people survived, and all because of that Ada woman. It was a good thing she was dead. She wouldn’t have wanted to meet him again. He didn’t talk to all of them, but they had been good people. The way they died… They didn’t deserve that. No one did.

One of the other soldiers, ‘Teddy’ Johnson, chuckled a bit and leaned back. “Don’t worry. None of us actually like the fact this guy won’t say much.” He was checking their ammunition. They were unsure if they really needed the weapons, but in their opinion, better safe than sorry. It was mainly a paranoia that the weapons expert picked up after working in some infected zones. “Couldn’t even get the guy to talk about Hockey. Still needing some support when it comes to the Rangers with this Devils fan.” He cracked a grin as he looked at the front to see Dani shaking his head.

“If it wasn’t for the fact I am flying, I would be kicking your ass as bad as the Rangers were beaten by the Blackhawks. Seven to two? They were creamed!” The man grinned, his white teeth emphasized by his brown skin.

Teddy growled a bit. “Oh really? What about that time that Thornton totally got that winning score passed Broduer? I do believe the Sharks were cheering that day. Not your team. Why do they even have-“

There was an audible groan over the two men and the wind. Rebeka, the animal handler shook her head as a hand ran over her dogs head. “Can you two not start again? I don’t want to have a headache when we land.” She looked down to Knight, a black dog whose hair wasn’t really long, but it still hid his handler’s fingers some. He wouldn’t be there, but if there are people being experimented on he would know if they were infected. If they were, they would be ushered to Dr. Henry, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat at the moment. She wasn’t just there as a medic; she was there to put infected in quarantine as a precaution until they can be taken to a hospital with blood samples.

The last person in the group, Clark, was sitting quietly at the one window. In her hands was a radio that she was trying to repair. It didn’t seem like she was doing a very good job, but then again, she was in a helicopter that was getting tossed around by the wind and she didn’t have a lot of equipment lying around. It didn’t matter much. Once they landed, she might be able to do better. For now, she was working with what she had.

Around forty minutes of struggling with the wind and the group having a few small conversations, Dr. Henry spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. “There is a fire down there.” Sherry looked to the window since she was on the left side of the helicopter. There was a glow on the rock ledge. The only reason she could tell someone was there was because she could see their dark hair. The snowsuit they wore blended into the snow quite well making it hard to see them. She frowned some as she glanced over to Teddy as he got a ladder.

Jake held onto the girl as the door was opened. It was a good thing he did too. The rush of cold air made her shiver. She leaned more into him for the warmth. Outside the window, it was easy to see the person shift, though they soon disappeared as they put their hood on. Soon the fire vanished as the snow was dumped onto it. It took a moment before the stranger was seen climbing the ladder. Once on board, the door was shut and the man’s hood was dropped.

C must have been quite attractive in his youth. He still was quite the looker, at least, to Sherry he was. His hair was just starting to gray and there were barely any signs of aging in his face. Life was good on him physically. His brown eyes were weary, though. He really did look tired, and not just by the bags. He looked like he had a story that would cause a few shutters. Then again, everyone pretty much did anymore. He was obviously just the one of many who had something haunting them.

Sherry stood as the helicopter started to move again. She reached her hand out, smiling a bit. “Sherry Birkin. I’m here for-“

“I know who you are.” The man smiled some and looked around; landing his eyes on the redhead she had been sitting with. “And that is Jake Muller. The database had a lot of info on the two of you. Including the fact both your fathers worked for Umbrella.” He was still watching Jake when he said that, seeing the sour expression. Well, with that look, C could tell that Jake wasn’t exactly fond of the man who helped conceive him. That was a good sign in a sense. Meant the kid wasn’t going to try and follow his father.

“So how about we get to that landing spot. Introductions are not really needed. Once we get through this place, it isn’t like I am going to see any of you again.” C smirked as he sat on the door, not bothering to get a seat. He didn’t really care for them at the moment. He pulled his bag from his back, digging into it to pull some dried cranberries out.

The group was silent, staring at this stranger. Dani looked back a moment before moving the helicopter forward. He was the first to speak up. “So, Mr. C…”

“Just call me ‘C’. The ‘mister’ part is not necessary.”

The pilot nodded. “Alright, ‘C’. How do you know about this place? I don’t think you just stumbled on it out of the blue.” He shifted the control a little so that he could turn more towards the mountain they needed. He ould hope there was a smooth area for him to land.

C glanced over at the cockpit and then over at the rest of the group, not batting an eye with how suspicious of him they all were. He put some cranberries into his mouth and smirked. “I’ll show you when we land.” He looked down, as though to indicate he wasn’t going to talk much more.

Sherry glanced at Jake a moment and then shook her head. This was definitely going to be interesting. She leaned back and playfully bumped the other's leg. He glanced at her and returned the favor. This caused a grin to spread on both their lips before he leaned back and closed his eyes once more.

It wasn’t much longer before Dani called out, stating the fact they were about to land. Rebeka held onto Knight so that he wouldn’t fall over as they came down. It wasn’t like the helicopter was designed for animals. Once on the ground, the group got out of the vehicle, one by one. Dr. Henry was the second to last off since she helped get the dog into proper attire for the cold. She also helped get him out since he wasn’t young.

Clark stood there, getting a small computer out and started to type. “Alright, so we got a feed coming in nearby. Looks like there is, in fact, something here other than us.” She started to walk towards the signal, looking around a bit.

C pulled his phone out, messing with it a bit. A map appeared on the screen. With a few taps, a circle appeared. Sherry couldn’t help but to try and look over his shoulder to see what the man was doing. This task was impossible, though. She was still fairly short compared to this guy and it was difficult to see what was going on just over his arm. He was holding the phone high up. However, she wasn’t the only one to notice.

“What are you doing there, C?” The pilot walked over to stand right in front of the stranger. Interestingly, there was not that much of a height difference between the two. C was taller, but it was not that noticeable. So when the man looked up towards the other, they were nearly eye to eye. The look Dani was giving the other made it obvious that there was no trust at the moment. Until further notice, no one trusted this man who claimed to just want to get inside of a facility run by power hungry psychopaths. There was a line that no one wanted to cross yet and it dealt with a lot of people being lost by trusting the wrong people. And if C showed that he was untrustworthy to one person, no one would trust him.

And it seemed the man realized that. He smirked a bit and glanced at the man in front of him, and then looked up to everyone else. Finally, he laid eyes on the tech. “That signal may be the cameras. I am not too good at hacking those so if you can, we can avoid them.” He looked back at the pilot. “This is a map of the area. The mark is where the door is. Can never be too prepared to have a reminder like that.” He looked down again and tapped the screen one more time.

Jake looked at how nonchalant the man was about this situation. He was surrounded by people carrying guns and yet he wasn’t worried about a slip. “You are way too calm…” He frowned and narrowed his eyes.

“You all don’t trust me.” C put the phone back into his pocket and then looked directly at the young man. “I come up to you all saying there is a secret facility somewhere and give no information. Trust is the last thing I am worried about, otherwise, I would have given you more.” He smirked. “As far as I am concerned, you don’t point a gun at me, I won’t point a gun at you.” He started to walk off towards the door, done talking.

A tight feeling in his gut made the former gun for hire feel a little sick. He knew that attitude personally. “Sherry… Stick next to me…” In his peripheral, he saw her look at him with some bewilderment. “I have a feeling he might be made of the same cloth as me.” He started to follow with a voice in the back of his head telling him that things were not going to work right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes in to get to the labs for survivors. As normal, things don't go as planned.

It took no time at all for the group to find the door. Clark had managed to hack into the camera system and place a loop on there to get by them. It was pretty easy to just walk where they needed to go after that. The door was camouflaged with some rocks that it was set behind. That was probably the hardest part about the whole trip; just finding the door, even with C having been there for a time already. Once it was located, Teddy radioed into the other team that was waiting for their call. Once they had the confirmation about the facility, back up was to be notified before they went any further. Now they needed to wait.

Sherry was looking around a bit, eating an astronaut ice-cream sandwich. It wasn’t the best, but it was something to put in her stomach as she wasted time. Her eyes kept glancing over at the stranger. He hadn’t said a word since the door was found. All he had been doing was sitting on a piece of rock tapping on the phone. At first, she had thought he would be talking to someone. When she got a glimpse of the screen, however, she discovered the guy had a love for Tetris. His high score was actually 97,568,960 at the time. He was quick with his fingers and, if Sherry didn’t know better, anyone could see his brain working constantly to get the score higher. Hopefully, he was this good with combat if it came down to it.

He was still playing the game and not looking up at anyone when back up arrived in another copter. He didn’t even look up when there were footsteps coming towards them. Sherry took once glance over and watched as four more B.S.A.A. came into view. At first, she wasn’t really going to do much until she saw one man in particular. “Chris!” She grinned as she got up, rushing over to the Captain. She barely noticed that C actually finally looked at something other than his phone

“Sherry? I heard we had two extras but-“ Chris looked over to see a very familiar man walking over. “And Jake is with you. Last I heard about you, you had been in India helping with an infection.” 

Jake shrugged a bit. “Something to do.” He didn't hold his normal glare that had graced his face last time they spoke. It had been a while since that last encounter. Jake had matured some, still a little miffed about Chris taking away his chance to find out who his father was as a person, but at the same time accepting that it was probably for the best.

The Captain simply smiled to the two of them and nodded his leave so he could move over to the man who had returned to his game. “Bored much?” 

The man just raised a hand up, fingers open for a handshake. “Just call me C. And trust me; I am bored just sitting here. I am about to beat my high score again.” His eyes were still glued to the game as he felt the hand in his own. “So… Chris Redfield, huh?” He paused the game, finally looking up to meet his eyes. The soldier observed a tightening of his jaw.

“Yeah. When I heard there might be a chance to get at the heart of a lot of problems, you think I would miss a chance like this?” He took a step back as he watched C stand. “My question is this; why are you here?”

“I should tell you?” The phone was pocketed before hands were placed in pockets. It couldn't be that easy. “You can’t get into the door without me. And there is an alarm system that, without me once again, would activate and you would have quite a few troubles.” C smirked. There was a glint in his eyes that Chris didn’t like. “I have my reasons to be here. Further than that, you can shut this place down and I won’t give two shits.” 

The other B.S.A.A. stared. Some were expecting someone to start something with how they were standing. The tension in the two men was pretty intense as they gauged each other. Chris had a gun at hand and yet C didn’t even flinch at this. Then again, they didn’t know if there was a weapon on him or something. There could be some hand in hand combat that the stranger knew and no one would know any better. 

What broke the quiet was Clark. “He’s right Captain. I can’t hack in the mainframe to open the door. Too many codes that would make the alarms go off.” She stood a little bit away from the door. She had wires spilling out of a panel showing she had been trying to make an attempt before they got there. 

C smirked and backed away from the man in front of him. “And there you have it.” He pulled the phone out once more and started to tap. Hopefully, Sherry thought, all that progress was not lost on that game. There were a few sounds, small pings that adjusted in volume. Once C seemed satisfied, he put the phone near what looked like a snake head where the door knocker should be. 

It was quiet for a second before a voice came out of the phone. It was a man, and they sounded young. “Kood: seitse, seitse, kaks, kolm, kaheksa, neli, kuus.”

“Estonian.” Sherry looked at Jake. She wasn’t really sure he had said anything at all in truth. He had whispered so quietly. The low voice made sense, though, so she didn’t question it. If another sound got passed the speaker other than the wind, the code might not take Thought, the fact the language was from there, was it just the man who spoke it, or was the code itself? 

After the code was said, the door opened pretty quickly. C asked Clark to help him with the electrical system inside the door. This gave Chris enough time to walk over to the rest of the group. “What all do you know about this guy? Or is he one of those ‘no talk’ types?” He looked back a moment. He didn’t like this guy so close to Clark. She was the youngest in the group and still fairly new to the B.S.A.A. The only reason she was brought on board was because of her tech knowledge. 

Dr. Henry took a deep breath as she stepped forward. “All we know is he doesn’t trust us. Other than that he keeps quiet. He knows stuff, but it is easy enough to get to if you have the resources.” She frowned a bit.

Chris’ brows knitted together some. “Like what?”

“Like whom Sherry and Jake’s fathers were… That was pretty much all he said about, though.” The doctor looked at the ground. That was the only thing he actually really said about, after all.

The Captain thought for a moment and then seemed satisfied with something. “He might have been gauging our reactions. If we don’t know much about him we don’t know how he works. All we know is we have to keep an eye on him in case he does anything suspicious.”

Jake coughed a bit, gaining everyone’s attention. “Not reacting to someone in danger won’t count. He doesn’t trust us and he has his reasons. Unless we give him a reason, more than likely he won’t be of any aid.” He was quiet for only a few seconds. As an afterthought, he elaborated. “That is what I would have done. That is what I have done.” His arms crossed once he was finished. At least, they now knew they had an example to look after.

“Right. Thanks, Jake.” Chris actually sounded glad to have that knowledge on hand. However, they all knew that the older man might actually know the feeling that the other was talking about. After Albert Wesker and the rest of Raccoon, he didn’t exactly show a lot of trust either.

The little meeting did not last much longer as Clark called out. “Captain! The alarm system is down, but it will only last three hours before something wrong is detected.” She walked forward, her watch already counting down. C joined next to her, getting his phone put away for the time being.

Chris nodded to her before turning to the man who seemed.. to be a little tense now. “You take point since you know the place better. Our main priority is getting people out if they are civilians. Once they are out we will start shutting the place down.” He watched the man, seeing his reaction.

“I take the lead, huh?” He sighed. “Fine. Just keep up.” His pack fell from his shoulder some so that it would be easier to flip forward. Once in easy access, C reached into the one pocket and pulled out a military issues berretta. For some reason, this was of no surprise to anyone. Once the bag was secured once more they started to move. 

The order had already been given on who went in and who stayed out. Dr. Henry and Rebeka remained outside to help set up some equipment so that the quarantine could be ready as well as a guide in more B.S.A.A. once they started to head in. The men that were brought with Chris were ordered to help out at the entrance. This, of course, meant that everyone else followed behind the man they didn’t feel would be of much use for them. Chris followed close behind C. Not only did he want to keep a watchful eye on him, but he also wanted to observe him. His stance was a military form. He held the gun perfectly up and moved around corners with ease. He even gave signals that, unless he looked them up, were only taught during military training. C was a soldier that was for sure. A soldier with trust issues was never too good. It meant a possible trigger-happy man with possible PTSD. However, as they moved, the Captian noted how calm and collected the stranger was. He didn't know what he was after, but his calm showed he was in control of himself, at least.

They were a good thirty minutes into the building when they finally reached some stairs. They had managed to avoid most of the people in the facility, knocking some out maybe two people before they could alert anyone. It didn't seem too crowded. 

C went down the steps and made sure everyone knew it was clear. The smell alone, the antiseptics, let them all know they had arrived in the section with the most nightmares contained. They continued in, trying to not let the labs get to them.

Sherry shuttered as she looked at the tables in there. They were very clean, just like the ones she had been in. And there were so many needles on one of the trays. She looked ahead to try and not focus on what was used on others. 

The shivers stopped when a hand took hold of her own. She barely had to glance at those gloved hands to realize whom they belonged too. Jake knew all too well how unnerved this stuff made her. His comfort was pretty appreciated. “Don’t worry. Once we get the people out, I will be fine.” She squeezed the hand lightly but didn’t let it go.

A soft ‘thunk’ made everyone jump and point their guns at the door nearby. Above the entry read ‘OBSERVATION CELL’. Dani walked close to the window and looked in. He was quiet for a moment and then motioned for the group to keep moving. The look in his dark eyes said it all; whoever was inside was beyond saving. Best to move on. They will get this person later; put them out of their misery. 

It wasn’t long after until the group found their way in the holding cells. There were a good thirteen people in the cell block they entered. Five of the prisoners were children. It was obvious that there was a deep sense of nausea in a few of the soldiers. Adults were one thing, but children were a completely different story. 

C took a step back from where he was in the front, letting someone else take over for the scared people. Most of the adults couldn’t speak English, but some of the children did, so it was easy for them to translate everything. Teddy was able to keep them calm, telling them that he was there to rescue them. That helped a bit. That was until C got close to one of the rooms with a glass door.

One of the women started to speak frantically. A little girl frowned some as she looked at the room. “No one ever lasts a few months. She says that that man in there has been there since before us.” 

“Really…?” That piqued his curiosity. C looked at Chris before looking into the room. Inside had a metal table surrounded by some medical equipment. There was a small tray next to it with some test tubes placed on some paper. The monitor that recorded the heart rate and the amount of oxygen given for the person was slow and steady. Sensors were set on the chest leading to the monitor. There was also what looked like a packet of paper hanging from the cart. It was hard to tell the age, but the person was definitely a man. A mask with two separate tubes was placed over their face so it was unknown what they looked like. All that could be told of his features was that he was a pale auburn redhead with what could be shoulder length hair. A needle was placed into the person’s right arm, possibly for fluids and drugs. Under the paper dress, there were two more tubes that were discreetly placed as to not bother anyone coming in for waste.

After a bit of contemplating, C opened the door and walked in. Since there were no hazmat suits near the room, it was safe to assume that there were no air contaminants to get them sick. He ignored the cries of the prisoners and picked up the packet. No information was given as to who he was. However, there were some notes that he decided to read. .

_August 23, 2000_

_Subject 2864 was given to us by quite a generous donor and ally after he extracted some blood samples for the virus running through the subject’s blood. It was said to be a peace offering so he could work without us getting involved. It was an easy enough request to make as the virus was much more important to us. A name was not given to me on what this virus was, or who the subject was, but the structure is amazing. And for a body so young, barely an adult, he is a perfect host. It may be just as much a breakthrough as the discovery of the T-Virus for Umbrella. This could be used nicely if someone starts to go a path we don’t like._

_September 29, 2000_

_We have discovered that Subject 2864's virus is difficult to extract. We have been fighting just to get a sample of the virus to observe more. However, an hour after blood is taken, the virus starts to deteriorate. It is obvious that the virus cannot be air born at this moment and may never be if this keeps up. I keep wondering how the previous owner could have used this. He must have been able to extract the virus successfully if he gave the specimen to us. Either that, or he gave up. Maybe it bonded after we got him?_

_October 02, 2000_

_Someone forgot to mention that the subject had been dead before being brought to my team. There is not much damage to the brain or organs, thankfully, at least not on the important parts. The damage is mostly in the region where memory is stored as well as part of the intestines. The virus is repairing the damage. If he would remember anything is something we really don’t care about. Not that he would tell us anyways. We were ordered to keep him under so that we wouldn’t deal with a possible mutation. It took us a bit to make sure there was no other damage, though. You can never be too sure. But it seems we will be keeping the subject for a long time. We will have to monitor his brain and organ functions still to verify that the repairs are not going to kill him. I wonder what all we can do with him…_

C sighed a bit as he went through the pages, not really caring about finding out that the person had a useless virus. He was just about to let the packet drop after going to the third page when something caught his eye. He lifted the paper up, making sure he was reading clearly.

_May 20, 2009_

_The experiments are nearly completed on the virus. It was discovered that the G-Virus taken from blood samples in Sherry Birkin’s blood a few years back made a perfect weapon while spliced with the T-Veronica virus that had been anonymously donated. Unfortunately, the sample of the second had been completely used, but it wasn’t that much of a cost seeing as the C Virus is superior. Carla Radames said that she somehow used Subject 2864’s blood as control, helping to stabalize it more. She didn't talk about specifics, but it helped make it dangerous enough. It is a shame she vanished. I would have liked to thank her myself. The subject wasn’t made useless after all. Maybe we could use the blood in his system to make even more powerful weapons if we can just figure out how she made everything work._

C stared a moment at the paper and then up towards the door where Chris stood. Something in his eyes looked pained as he stared at the body on the table. C swallowed hard before speaking up. “We need to take him with us.”

That caught the Captain’s attention. He looked up at the other, eyes narrowed. “No.” He walked over, reaching for the machine to turn everything off. He was going to kill the person, put them out of the misery they may have been in. He wasn’t risking them mutating, either. His hand was stopped, however.

"You don’t understand. This kid has something in his blood, something pretty strong and possibly beneficial to us.” This bit of information made the man pause. He looked up at the stranger, wanting him to continue. “Just read this. Read the one I just saw.” He held out the packet, pointing to the entry he was reading.

There was silence in the room as Chris looked at the entry that had caught the other’s eyes. He narrowed his eyes, confused. “I don’t understand. His blood…”

C shook his head a bit and sighed. “They couldn’t study the virus without it deteriorating. His blood adapted. But because of how strong it was, they could test viruses with his blood, being able to engineer them to be stronger and somehow get them stabalized.” C stared at the masked man a moment. “There is a chance that with his blood, plus Jake’s, you all might have a real fighting chance against the viruses, not just the C. Not just the T. His blood could be used for so much.”

Chris stared at the man in front of him. He was quite confused about the stranger’s excitement, especially when he seemed so apathetic to others. Before anyone could respond, however, the room became quite dark, red emergency lights turned on. C looked around before getting his phone out and tapping a bit. There was a moment of horror in his eyes. The wait to figure out why didn’t last long as an alarm started to blare from around the room. 

Sherry looked at Teddy who was looking over to where the two men were talking. “What the hell?! I thought we had three hours!”

“Manual.” Clark looked up at her fellow teammates. “Someone must have set the alarm off manually. It’s the only way it would have been triggered!” 

Dani cursed, starting to move the people out of there. This was supposed to be easy. They couldn’t ask for easy, though, could they? After all, this was a group making bio weaponry. Something like that was never easy. Sherry and Jake exchanged looks before the woman rushed after to help the people. 

One child was too scared to move, not sure what to do. This little girl, probably no more than nine, sat in the corner. Teddy walked over, kneeling in front of her. “Hey, it’s okay. We are going to get you out of here and back home, alright?” He reached onto his belt and pulled a hatchet off, handing it to her. “You can hold onto this for me. Good luck charm.” He took her hand and helped her up. Seemed giving her the weapon, even though it had leather covering on it, gave her a bit of courage. It must have been the good luck part. She managed to start walking with him, still hesitant. They would need to get her moving soon, but for now, she needed comfort.

C turned to the body that was on the table, starting to get the needles out of the man’s arm. Chris reached over, grabbing his wrist. “What are you doing? We don't have time for this!” He kept a tight grip, making sure the stranger couldn’t get away as he tugged.

“I would rather not leave him here! He would be useful, and you know it.” He managed to get his hand away from the other, glaring at the soldier in front of him. “He would be my responsibility, not yours. At least, until we all get out of here.”

Chris was quiet for half a minute, not noticing that Jake was now at the doorway with an impatient look. “Was this what you were after?” It had to be the reason he was there, to get some samples.

However, the smirk said otherwise. “Not on this floor… I’m a survivor of Raccoon, just like you are. I don’t want this…” C watched as the Captain’s eyes widened, surprised. “I just hate the idea of someone staying here. We don’t know if he can live as a human or not.” He moved again, getting the sensors off the man’s chest, getting ready to get the mask off.

Jake looked at Chris a moment before walking in. “Go, the B.S.A.A. need you.” He went over to the table, helping to get the straps off the comatose man’s legs. Chris just nodded and ran out of there to join his men. The faster the straps were taken off, though, the faster they can check the person’s blood.

Chris met up with the group, Clark in the lead with a map that C downloaded onto her tablet. They kept close to her, guns out at the ready in case they found resistance heading out.

Just as she turned the corner, though, the tech let out a high pitched scream. Chris ran forward to figure out what happened. The sight made him feel cold. Apparently, someone had thought opening up the doors to the quarantine cells had been a good emergency plan; four zombies had caught the girl off guard. Blood was pouring from the young woman’s mouth as one of the things, someone that used to be a man, bit into her throat and ripped out her esophagus and another got at her wrists. Clark would be gone in a matter of seconds as they overpowered her and got her to the ground. No amount of her struggling against them was going to do anything now.

The Captain raised his gun up, shooting at the zombies and then gave a mercy shot to the now dead member. Best she not be changed. There was blood spreading now. Getting the children around the mess without seeing the gore was impossible. At least, it got them moving. They understood now that the faster they got out the safer they would be. 

They were close to the stairs to get to the next floor, to get to the exit, when Chris saw something out of the corner of his eyes. He stopped and turned. That cold feeling returned. It was open. It was a Chrysalid, and it was open. “Run… Run!” He could hear it. It was a Strelats. A Nepad they could outrun, but not a Strelats. Damn, they had other cells to get to yet. If something like this was in there… it looked like they may have only had the chance to save the thirteen. 

He turned just as he heard the movement. He shot at the lizard, trying to get it before it got a hold of someone or shot out the spines. Unfortunately, he was a bit too late on the latter. A few spines flew out. The child that Teddy was leading out screamed. The ammo expert didn’t hesitate to pick her up and continue running. Chris remained behind to continue to shoot at the thing so they had more of a chance.

C got the mask off the person, pulling the two tubes out of his mouth and nose. Good thing they had a feeding tube. If the person woke up he could eat normally. He finished getting the straps off, Jake helping. However, once the mask was off, the younger stopped and stared at the comatose man.

“He looks so young…” Normally, this didn’t affect him, but the man looked around his age. Jake had been getting a lot of realities hit on him since he moved in with Sherry. 

“He was brought here in 1999. He was around your age then.” C lifted the man up and started to carry him out once he was completely unhooked. “He is older than you and Sherry. It could be the virus; it could be how he has been kept.” The red hair blocked the man’s face as they rushed out. Since they had heard the guns, Jake went first, holding a gun up just in case. They were behind time, they needed to get going.

They passed the group of dead zombies and Clark lying on the ground. They passed the spot where the lizard was, causing C to pause just a moment. This was a whole new ball game to get mixed up in. But that moment pause may have been what saved his life as Jake had to take it down.

Jake and C managed to run to the point they could see the group turning into the walkway for the exit. The alarm was still blaring loudly as the two got closer. Mere meters away from the turn themselves, C looked up and saw cracks forming in the ceiling. “Jake, stop!” 

The ceiling started to cave.

Teddy turned, seeing the falling rock. They were close to the exit, but not close enough. He was behind some with the little girl in arm. He grimaced. “Dani!” The black man turned, just outside the exit, just in time for the little girl to suddenly be thrown into his arms with a shriek. He hit the snow hard and then sat up. He didn’t care that he was winded.

The doorway was blocked by the rocks that had suddenly fallen. The pilot looked down at the ground to see a bit of red staining the white snow. Other than that, though… there was no sign of Teddy. “Ted…” Dani stood slowly up, holding the girl tightly. The soldier knew he had no time to get out. So, he threw the girl to save her at least. Looked like the good luck had passed.

Sherry turned, looking around. Extra B.S.A.A. members had flown in. Good thing too; a large amount of the scientists had been picked up after they got out and were being arrested. The extra support was needed. But that wasn’t who she was looking for. “Jake?” She looked at Chris, who seemed to have a look of realization on his features. He turned to the door just as she put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God… Please be okay…” She was shaking. She couldn’t lose Jake. He was just as important to her as Leon and Claire. If anything happened to him… She lost her parents. Losing just one more person felt like it would kill her.

“He’ll be alright…” Chris walked over to her, patting her shoulder. “I’ll get some people in with a drill or something. We will get him out of there.” He gave her a reassuring smile. He was owed some favors as it was. Besides that, TerraSave would be needed to be called in. After what he saw, a cleanup was needed. He just hoped he was right about Jake.

He hoped that C would help him get out, as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the way blocked, C and Jake have to figure out where to go from there. After all, they can't stay out in the open, not with a weak infected to boot.

Coughs filled the hall as the dust from rocks spread. C would have panicked about the situation if it wasn’t for the fact he knew he couldn’t. Panic got people killed. He remembered how he had to save one person because she panicked. If he hadn't been there, things could have ended a lot differently, then. At least, he didn’t need to worry about being alone this time, either. His coughs were not the only ones echoing off the walls. 

“What the fuck was that?!” Jake had slid to a stop once the rocks started falling, his momentum causing him to fall back. It was a good thing that he had listened to the other and stopped to the best of his abilities. His foot had gotten trapped under some of the rubble, but it was easy to get out. He might limp some, but that would leave with some time. He looked up at the other man, not expecting to see relief in those brown eyes of his.

“It is to protect everything in here. The experiments are running around now making it difficult to get information on the place.” C placed the unconscious man against the wall before sitting down. He coughed a bit again before continuing. “The Family had this set up so that they could easily get in later and clear it out in case a threat came in. I thought we had more time, though…” He closed his eyes, leaning his head back.

Jake walked over and sat on the opposite wall. He needed a breather after all that running and to let his foot have some time to recover. “How long do you think we are trapped in here for?”

“Three days maybe.” C sighed. “I hope less than that, though. I don’t want to experience too much of what goes on in these halls.” He opened his eyes, looking at the young man in front of him.

Jake let out a small hum, feeling this is a good time to get some answers. They were going to be trapped, might as well know what intentions are. “Why are you here? If you are not here for a virus, does that mean you are here for intel?” Jake glared at the man, feeling just a tad weary. The nod to his answer made him groan. “Great. Why couldn’t you just hack into the place?” It seemed C was good at that as it was.

Instead of an answer, C just stood, picking the infected man up once more. “We better get moving for now. Staying in one place isn’t good when we have the T-virus here. The zombies alone tend to wonder. And I wouldn’t want to deal with anything aquatic.” Even though he was holding another person, he rolled his right wrist as though trying to get a feeling out of the joint. "Who knows what they have that will move up here."

Jake didn’t argue and started to follow. After everything in China, he started to research Umbrella and the viruses. The T-virus didn’t seem as bad as the C-virus, at times. But the fact it was more easily spread made it a force to be reckoned with. It was something the man didn’t want to go through if he could avoid it. Immunity to the C-virus was one thing. Didn’t mean he was immune to everything else. 

It was quiet in the halls. Interestingly enough, they were similar to halls in a private school building. Brick made up the walls while nice wooden doors were found every so often. Disturbingly enough there were images in the windows giving a feel as though the people within were not living in the middle of the mountain and were in fact outside in a normal building. The air was cool, but there was a different feel than air conditioning. More than likely there was a heater keeping the cold weather out. A few pictures were hanging on the wall to give a little more life to the area. All the flooring had a lush red carpet flooding over them once out of the hall leading to the way out.

Jake actually opened up one door, checking inside. It was a living space. The carpet leaked inside giving a much more plush environment. The bed was a large queen covered in cotton white sheets. A desk in the corner looked like an expensive oak design and was very well built. The company must have spent a lot of money just to have something like that in there. Hell, even the dresser looked like it was worth money. There was a bathroom on the side, but it was too dark to see what it looked like. It could be guessed that it was large and looked fit for a king, though.

Jake felt an uneasy sensation in his stomach as he walked through. Everything was so expensive. How much power and money must these people have to get all of this? How much influence did they have just to have everything? If this one lab went down, wouldn’t they have enough money to just rebuilt and start over? The idea was terrifying.

The carpet was even more terrifying for their situation. As they walked, they heard nothing. Their movements were muffled, but other creatures might be able to walk towards them and they wouldn’t be able to hear a damn thing. Neither of the men liked it. So when they heard a grumble, they jumped. Jake turned with his gun up, hearing it behind him. However, C hadn’t turned at all; he was looking down at the man in his arms. Seemed he was finally waking up. He was set onto the ground, the young man a little grateful that they were not on tile.

C knelt down, moving the hair out of the other’s face. “Hey…” He placed a hand on his cheek, making sure his head stayed straight up. Having to move his head around might be disorienting after being in a drug-induced coma. 

It took a moment, but his eyes finally opened. For some reason, the irises were of no surprise to either man. They were not natural colored. The virus within this man’s body had turned those irises to a deep red color, only just a few shades darker from black. At first, those irises just stared up at the brown of C’s eyes. Sudden they were wide with fear and the man got up onto his feet, backing away unsteadily.

“Whoa! It’s okay! We aren’t going to hurt you!” The person looked between them, Jake quickly pointing his gun up to the ceiling to show he didn’t mean any harm. C spoke slowly, hoping to not startle him more. “This is Jake. You can call me C. Do you have a name?” He could only hope that the person could understand English. If not then they were having some real issues.

They must have had some luck. It seemed he did understand them. However, when asked about his name, the person looked down, confused. The paper did say about his memory probably being damaged. Viral repair or not, memories were hard to get back. 

C looked up at Jake a moment. The man was still standing, keeping guard. That might have been making the redhead feel a little uncomfortable. C looked back at him, reaching a hand out. “How about we get you something to drink real quick?” They needed this guy to trust them for now. They could think of a name later to call him. And getting to the lower levels could wait a little while longer.

The man’s hand slowly came up to hold onto the one offered to him. Standing seemed to be a bit of a challenge. He was thin from lack of movement. Being in a coma for so long probably had him still disoriented as well as off balance. It would take some time to feel proper while moving around. He leaned on C as the three walked.

Jake was now more on edge. If they were attacked they would have a different kind of problem. The guy they had wasn’t fit to fight. In fact, he wasn’t fit to do much. Every time the young man turned to look back, to make sure nothing was following, the other was struggling not to stumble. If they got attacked he would be the easiest target and likely to die first. Death to any of them was not an option. Especially since Jake overheard what was so important about the man’s blood. 

Once in the large part of the floor they were on, C smiled. “Looks like the infected haven’t gotten to this floor yet.” It meant they could relax a bit. The floor was a nice marble. Since it was, in fact, a dining area with a stage the people running the facility needed the place easy to clean. That meant that the infected would be heard once they started to come in. Unless they were the silent ones. C hoped that they wouldn't deal with anything like that.

The nameless man was set in a chair. Jake went into what he assumed was the kitchen. If they were stuck there for a bit it was good to have something to eat while they moved about. They couldn’t hold out there. Just because it was open and the infected could easily be seen didn’t mean that wouldn’t be a problem. Depending on how many people were still in there, the viruses infecting them, it could cause them to be overwhelmed. It was best to get some of the stuff that could last while they waited in the large building.

He found a bag in there that was large enough to carry a good amount of food and started to pack up some fruit cans as well as some tuna and that Vienna stuff that he used to live off of. Shame they didn’t have any MREs. It would have been so much easier to carry that stuff rather than so many cans. He found some soups and added them to the bag. Cold or not, those were good. There were also some knives in there… He grabbed a good sized one, checking the blade. Their new friend wouldn’t be able to handle a gun just yet. This could do for now. 

While Jake was busy in the kitchen, C went to the monitor that was, thankfully, set in the room. Sometimes eating breakfast with the family was the best and not always was that family in the same area. He started it up and tried to get a hold of the computers outside the mountain. Surly B.S.A.A. had set up the computers by now to keep in contact with operatives at their HQ. More backup was going to be needed after all. After a bit of hacking and figuring things out, there was a relief in his system to see that there were, in fact, computers online. He patched into the server and connected through a video feed. 

The connection was full of static, but at least he could hear some people. He was sure Chris was one of the voices. “Hey. Do you read me? This is C coming in from inside this damned facility.” He waited a moment, seeing some people moving on the screen.

It was a few seconds later that someone came into view. It certainly was the Captain. He had been right. “Are you okay? Jake, is he there?” There was worry in his voice. 

C nodded. “He is. He went to the kitchen. Right now we have to get set up and ready to move again. I wanted to give a rest for our mystery man first.” He glanced back. The man in question was trying to stand and walk on his own. At least he was trying.

“He’s awake? Has he been able to tell you anything yet? Who he is and all?”

Sadly, C shook his head. “I think he has full-blown amnesia. The paper said he had died before, that the virus had repaired the damage, but his memories are more than likely gone.” He looked at the computer, the image blanking out for just a moment. “He hasn’t spoken yet, so I don’t know if he can talk at all.” The groan hinted that he could, but if he had the know-how was a different story. For all they knew, there were more than just memories that he had forgotten. The older man could hope that maybe their new friend was selectively mute, that they could work with.

Chris sighed a bit. Well, they couldn’t do much about it. “Alright. Right now your main priority is to remain alive until we can get through the door. It will take a bit… so I am sure you know what to do…” There was a tone in his voice that said he didn’t want to put them through this. No one should have to survive a nightmare twice, not unless they volunteered to do so. C didn't go in expecting an infection. 

“Don’t worry, Chris. This isn’t my first rodeo. And though it has been a very long time, I plan on taking care of the kids.” He ran his finger over his wrist some, remembering who survived with him and all that they went through. She had been just a kid. This is no different to him even though the two others were adults. They were younger than him and the one was terrified. This would be just like before. “Do me one favor, though; tell Sherry Jake is alright. I don’t need her freaking out.” C tried a smile, but it was strained as everything set in on what he would be going through.

Chris was silent a moment. “I will… Try to keep us updated… We will be getting you all out as quickly as possible.” The screen went blank, indicating that Chris cut the call. They had work to do and once they were rested up, the three of them would be on the move again. There should be some computers in the lab...

Jake came out just then, a bag on his side, and three bottles of water in his hands. Water sounded pretty good, actually. C got up from the computer and walked over to grab one of the bottles. “Updated Chris. I don’t know when we will get to a computer again.” At least the others knew they were alive. 

“Wish I had gotten to talk to Sherry…” Jake got an apple out of one of the pockets. It was the only fresh fruit he had, knowing that the walk out of there was going to be hard. Best not to get the fruits smashed up. “She is probably scared shitless.” He bit into the apple and leaned on the table.

C opened the bottle and took a large amount out. That run had been exhausting and not having gotten water out of his bag made walking to the dining area hard. At least they would have more. “You must worry about her a lot. You barely left her side while coming here.” He smirked a bit.

Jake rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Supergirl can hold her own. She doesn’t really need me…” He was quiet as he stared at the apple. C raised a brow as he watched the younger man. “In truth, I need her. I didn’t stay near her because I care for her. I do, but that isn’t the reason.” He looked up at the brown eyed man. “I had too much betrayal in my life. I know I can trust her.” 

C stared a moment, his face unreadable as he tried to read the other. After a moment, he smiled and finished the bottle of water in his hand. “Didn’t think I would be stuck with someone who knew how hard it was.” He stood up and looked off to the side. “We better get going. I would rather get you back to her…” Because he wants to get back to the ones he trusted, too. 

Jake nodded and got his gun out once more. After putting some of the cans into C’s bag, the three headed out. The red-haired man was close behind, looking back every so often. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting from that direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one I had written and stared at for a while. Could not figure out why it felt wrong. Thus why it took a while to actually post.
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/hunterjamie


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris gets some exciting backup from the DSO and TerraSave while Jake starts to realize that while they may have a good tool to survive the facility, there are a few more challenges to deal with.

Chris was still trying to call in for a drill. The men he had there were trying to get as much of the rubble out of the way but they just were not going to cut it. Dani couldn’t help for the most part. He kept nearly getting sick whenever he got near the blood. He and Teddy had been best of friends. They had been through so much together that they couldn’t be apart. Now there was no choice but for the pilot to be on his own. No more bantering, or watching hockey. He would need time to grieve.

The Captain looked at a table in front of him. The tent he was in gave a nice amount of protection from the chilling winds outside. The heater did a hell of a job to keep everything warm as well. However, the amount of gas they had for the generator was in question. More men were coming in, thankfully. Jill had been more than happy to get things set up for a few more helicopters to land there. After a very good scan of the area, it became obvious that there were some spots made specifically for something as big as a Chinook. It seemed things were finally calming down as pilots were managing the weather.

Knight barked outside, indicating that one of the people that came out had the virus on them. That made fourteen in total. Two of the civilians had been infected and the scientists had a vial on them, or in the case of Dr. Hilary Bends, just infected. She had been checking with the T-virus, trying to make a stronger strain while her partner tried to splice it with another virus. Not many were dealing with it, but when it was such a good base, why change it?

Dr. Gong Zhu Wáng had seen the group going by. Because of him, they had to high-tail it out of there. However, he didn’t getaway. Once he and Hilary made it to the door, they had a fun welcome party from the other members of B.S.A.A. It was only when Knight sniffed the woman did she realize she cut herself on a knife with infected blood on it. She was lucky it was such an old viral strain and not one of the newer ones.

Still, as lucky as she had been, they still had the two civilians to worry about. They had no idea what was in their system, if they were adapters or if they were going to die, or worse, mutate. He didn't want to think about the description of the monster Jill and Quinn had fought on the Queen Zenobia. He hoped they never had to deal with another one of those... it would be nice to not have to deal with any of the nightmares.

Chris closed his eyes a moment. It would have been nice if this had been the one time things worked out. He knew it wouldn’t have been possible, but it was a wish he made every time he went out. Ever since Piers died, he wished with every mission to not go through that again. Each time a person died he felt closer and closer to his breaking point once more. 

His thoughts on that were disrupted by Sherry crying out in glee. “Claire! Leon!” The Captain looked up, surprised to hear those two names. He looked out the tent door just in time to see the younger girl hug his little sister. 

“I cannot believe how much you have grown! Last I saw you, you were still a little twerp!” She gently punched the girl's arm, indicating the strength she had gained. It had been a very long time since the girls saw one another. They had both been so busy with TerraSave and the extensive training the DSO put their new, inexperienced agents through. They sent letters, but it just wasn’t the same as seeing one another. 

Sherry soon pulled away from the hug and turned to embrace the man that came with. He seemed extremely exhausted. There must have been many sleepless nights with how dark the circles were under his eyes. With the cleanups and all the information he was repeating about what happened a year ago, it was easy to lose sleep. It wasn’t every day that someone had no choice but to shoot their best friend. It didn’t matter if they were dead, that task is hard. Even still, Leon managed a smile for the girl he saved years ago. “It’s good to see you are alright.”

Chris smiled some. Yeah, she was alright on the outside. But the Captain knew she was uneasy and wound up on the inside. “I would love to let you all catch-up, I really would, but there is an important matter to attend to.” He motioned for everyone to follow him into the tent. 

Inside, Dr. Henry sat in a chair, waiting for everyone to get comfortable. In her lap was a laptop with all the report about what was going on typed up. “Good to see you all got here safe.” She smiled a bit. “I better catch you up real quick.” She went into a detailed account of what had happened so far. She summed up the entrance and the sudden need to get out of there. Then she told them about how they went through every scientist that came out and were now getting them sent out for heavy interrogation at one of the B.S.A.A. bases. If they had luck, some of them were not aware of who they worked for and could probably recruit them for the labs in TerraSave. For some reason, the B.S.A.A. labs were filled. They needed more people in TerraSave. But when did they have luck like that? “So far our main concern is getting into the facility to get any survivors out as well as two of our people.”

Leon, who was sitting on the ground since there were only four seats in there, frowned some. He leaned forward with his arm resting on his bent knee. “Two people? What were they doing in there that they were left behind?” If they survived, that was good. But it was the fact of how far behind they might have been.

Chris piped up. “It is safe to say that C is a mercenary. Who he works for currently is unknown as well as what he is after. However, he found a person with an unknown virus in their system. However, it was unusable to the scientists until one used it as a control and discovered a stabilizing effect. C theorized that it could be used for vaccines as well.” He crossed his arms as he looked down. “Their blood could help. So he stayed down there to get the guy out. Jake remained behind as a precaution.” 

Leon’s eyes widened. “Jake? As in Muller? Why would he be in there?” He looked at Sherry, who just shrugged.

Chris sighed. “Yeah. I think he was paid to come in. I would have to ask but it wasn't my main priority. He is alright, though. C managed to get in contact with us. The unknown man is awake and walking around so we don’t know if he is a threat or not. Hopefully, he will be like Natalia or Moira.”

Claire took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. “So, I came in not just to evaluate the damage, but also because of this man and his blood.” She rubbed her wrist where a certain bracelet had been. It still bugged her from time to time. At least she no longer had to worry about the virus, though. Because she hadn’t crossed the boundary for the T-Phobos, it was easily extracted from her using a cure. It was not easy, though. The other two were unable to have the virus removed since they ended up adapting to it. “Hopefully we can help him as much as he could help us.” She got a file out, writing information down to send to the others later. The main base would have to be warned about the quarantine needed for this man.

Sherry was staring at the table. All she could think about was the fact that Jake was still in there. She was worried that something could happen. If C was reckless she didn’t think they would last long. And there was the fact they had no idea how good this one man was. For all they knew, he was out of shape and unable to do much.

Leon stood up, causing her to get out of her thoughts. “Well, I can say one thing is for sure; we will be getting them out. The DSO is lending a heavy-duty drill to help get through the rock. I also managed to get an umbrella of sorts to help in case an avalanche occurs while drilling.” 

Chris nodded, relieved that they managed to get something. “Alright. I’m pretty damn glad to hear that.” He turned to look at Claire. “And everything will be set up once that door is cleared, correct?” 

She simply nodded and stood up. She turned to walk out and get her men set up. There was no time to lose at that moment. They had someone who would need to be isolated. It was best to get everything ready for him.

Sherry watched as the woman left and looked to Leon as he patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Jake is a fighter. He will be fine.” He smiled a little to her before leaving the tent himself. He had seen her struggling with worry.

She smiled some, glad to have him there as well. It would help a lot while she waited to get Jake out. But he was right. Everything would be okay. Jake would be fine. 

He had to be.

~~~~~~~

“ _Fuckfuckfuckfuck!!!!_ ” Jake was firing rapidly at a fast-moving animal skeleton. At least that was what it looked like to him. It climbed the walls with a speed that nearly made it impossible to hit. C was right next to him trying to get a good shot and failing. They kept backing up, hearing their other survivor whimpering. He was pretty freaked out. That was not exactly the best thing to have with so many unknown factors about him. But Jake wasn’t thinking about that. What he was thinking about was the fact the damned thing had already scratched at him and was trying to get another blow. “Hold fucking still!” 

Finally, C let off a shot that got the creature through the head. The man leaned on the wall and took a few breathers, now feeling tired. That had not been something he wanted to deal with right off the bat. Those were too much like what he ran into in the past. He glanced up to the shaking man, smiling a little. “You okay, Red?”

‘Red’ happened to be the name he and Jake decided to call their new friend. Sure it wasn’t creative, but the guy needed to be called something. With how much danger they were in a good name was the least of their worries. They were still on the top floor and yet they were attacked. Getting clothes for the man had taken too much time. They had to go through each room just to find out what all the people had and also to get a good size for the situation. With how thin Red was, they managed to find some jeans to fit that happened to look neutral but were from a woman’s room. The shirt was thankfully easier to get. They just needed to make sure it wasn’t too baggy. The blue shirt wasn’t seen very well, though; once it was on they managed to find a good fit for a sweater which the man needed. For some reason, Red didn’t seem to like cold. It was possible his body didn’t like the fact it was in a chilled room for so long which cooled his core temperature. It was still human and needed to be warm. So the green sweater was grateful. It had a good hood with it to boot so his ears could have some coverage if need be. The white socks were too easy to find though getting some shoes were not. It was lucky they found the boots under the bed of one of the scientists. And a bonus was they were brand new so there was no foot smell.

The man nodded a bit for the question, clenching tightly onto the knife Jake had given him. He didn’t look like much, but he had something at least.

Jake walked to the thing that they just killed. “I have no idea what this is… Kind of reminds me of a bat, though.” He sighed and looked around, trying to see if there were any more. “Let’s go. We already made too much noise as it is.” He started to walk, changing his magazine so that he had a full clip. Hopefully, they would find an armory or something. Some of those things could not be taken care of by just a pistol. They would need more than that.

C looked at the thing once more and then started to follow the other, placing a comforting hand on Red’s back to calm him some. “I think that was the result of gene-splicing as well as the virus. They did some fucked up things in the beginning… But some of those things were good for protection. Harder to kill though harder to control.” He looked down at Jake’s side. “We need to get that taken care of.” The cut was fairly deep so it was bleeding a good bit. 

The younger stopped and looked down. It was obvious he hadn’t checked it yet. There was so much adrenaline because of the sudden attack he didn’t think to assess how hurt he was. “Might need stitches. Shit.” That stuff would be in the labs more than likely.

C hummed some and then knelt, taking his backpack off. “I have some medical super glue. It should work until we get you out of here.” He pulled some of the cans out and then got into one of the pockets. The tube was small, but a little bit could go a long way in this case. “Glad I packed this now.” He stood up after putting everything else back into the bag and zipped it up. “We better head to a bathroom first.” He turned to one of the rooms. Thankfully all the doors in the place were unlocked. They just walked into the one room and turned the lights on in the bathroom. 

Jake’s thoughts from earlier were right. The bathrooms were luxurious. There was a set up for a shower, but also a bath. The tub looked like it could be a Jacuzzi if anyone wanted to sit in one. The counters were made of black marble to go with the red walls. There were houseplants everywhere in the room, and by the hose set inside the soil, no one ever needed to water them. The only thing that looked normal in there was the toilet.

The man shook his head and started the water up in the sink, making it cool. He sat on the counter as he took his shirt off so it was easier to see the cut. C went over to the cupboard and found black towels. “I would prefer white…” The soldier bit his lip but got a towel and washcloth out anyways. 

“So, were you a medic?” Jake wasn’t looking at C as he spoke. He had noticed that Red kept looking at certain areas, focusing on them. He had a feeling he knew why too. He just hadn’t felt the need to ask just yet. Red wasn’t completely comfortable with them. 

C barely glanced up. He was busy getting things set up to take care of the wound. The washcloth, quite soft, was run under the water and then rung out so it was damp. Carefully, it was used to wipe away the excess blood around the wound before cleaning the cut itself. “I had some medical training, but that was it. I wasn’t trained specifically for medical.” C smiled some as he tried to be gentle with the cleaning. The hiss from the younger man was thankfully all he got in response. Once the wound was cleaned with the cloth, the towel was used to dry it so it was easier to glue edges together. 

“So you were just a foot soldier.” Jake hissed again as the dry cloth patted him. That hurt a little more than the damp cloth.

C hesitated a second. “Kind of… I don’t like talking about those days.” He reached over to grab the tube of glue and opened it up. “I guess it wasn’t that hard to realize I was in the military, huh?” He started to carefully dab the glue on the skin to close up the wound as much as possible.

The mercenary shook his head a bit. “It was your stance. I have dealt with so many soldiers that I recognize it. I am sure Chris saw it as well. So we can narrow down who you are.” He smirked a bit. “We got billions of men to look through so that should be easy enough.” It was easy to laugh a little at that. Only C knew when he was in the military and what branch. Jake wasn’t going to pry about that, though. 

C rummaged through his bag a bit again and grabbed some bandages. It looked like there wasn’t a lot in the bag. Seemed they would need to not only get the ammunition but medical supplies as well. Either way, they needed more things. The former soldier started to patch up the wound, making sure it was good and covered once the glue was partially dried. This way nothing more could irritate the edges as they walked around. “That should do it for now. Hopefully, we can survive a few days without us getting hurt worse than that.” He smirked a bit and packed his stuff up. 

Red walked in, shielding his eyes from the overhead light. Most of the halls were dimmed now so normally there were no issues. However, the lights in the bathroom were bright. For someone who had a mask over their eyes for years blocking out all kinds of light, anything could be too bright at the moment. Those red eyes of his were sensitive. If they could avoid bight lights, they felt it was almost the most they could ask for. At least his walking was getting better. He wasn’t stumbling as much. That made it easier for him to reach over and tug lightly at C’s sleeve some.

“What’s wrong?” He turned to the redhead, afraid that there was a problem in the other room or something. However, he noticed that the man was squirming a bit; he needed the bathroom. “Oh… you know how to use the toilet, right?” He smiled lightly, wanting to tease the kid. “Okay. We will be in the other room.” He looked over to Jake before heading out. They might as well give some privacy. 

Jake followed quickly after and shut the door. The lamp in the bedroom left a soft glow on the walls. This room had not been lived in it seemed since not even clothes were in there. The man sat on the bed even though it was too soft for his liking. “What do you think about him so far? Is he worth keeping with us?” He reached into the large bag he got with the food. He dug around until he found one of the Vienna sausage cans he snagged. Thank goodness they had easy to open lids. It made things so much simpler. He took off his right glove before picking up one of the links to start snacking on the can.

C thought for a moment. “He is useful.” He sat on the chair near the desk. “He was starting to look uncomfortable before that skeleton attacked us. I think he can feel when they are near.” He got a water bottle out and started to drink on it. 

“Right… I was thinking about that, but I wasn’t for sure.” Jake looked over to the bathroom when a flushing sound came from there. After that, they heard the water in the sink running. So he remembered to wash his hands; that was nice. “Shame I doubt he would know how to use a gun. That sixth sense can only do so much against something like a Napad. Or that thing I fought with a chainsaw for an arm.”

C just shrugged before he saw the door open. Red walked out, his hands covered up with his sleeves. He also wore a child-like grin. The heat from the sink must have felt pleasant enough. Now he was trying to keep the heat in the best that he could. The look caused a smile to spread on the older man’s lips. “Feel better?” 

Red nodded as he walked over to the dresser and hopped onto it to sit down. Jake was still eating out of the can, so it was a safe idea to just sit for a bit. Every so often, he would glance up to the door, though nothing seemed to be out there at the moment. At least it didn’t sound like there was anything out there. 

The silence was pretty ominous in that place. That didn’t bother two of the men, though. C just pulled his phone out and was looking through the diagram for the facility. There had to be a good route to the computers terminal so that he could get his information without getting anyone hurt too badly. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid the labs. Whoever designed this place was smart; to get to the stairwell to the final floor, someone had to go completely through the second. It made it difficult to get information and then get out safely. There was also the fact that the lab itself was set up like a maze. Now that the alarms were set off there was a high chance that there were traps set up around the place just waiting to kill someone. C was pretty hopeful it wasn’t anything like the traps Umbrella always had set up. Puzzles would be even worse. He heard about the one Jill Valentine had put in her report about the Spencer Estate. Moving a bunch of armor just to get an emblem and not die did not sound like something he wanted to go through. Not to mention pushing statues to get stuff inside of them just sounded miserable. 

The clinking of metal made the older man look up, seeing that Jake had finished snacking for now. They would have to stop and properly eat in a short. With what all they were probably going to deal with they needed their strength. Red would probably be the one needing it the most seeing as he was on a feeding tube for so long. His body was probably used to getting nutrients constantly. 

For now, it was time to focus on just getting to the next floor for what was needed or at least getting pretty damn close. Either way, the safest place for them to be would be on the bottom level. There would be screens there with camera footage. It would be a far better defense than trying to do things by ear. There was also the fact there may be an infected that Red would be unable to detect. There might also be some that blended into their surroundings, making it impossible to see them. They didn’t know how Red’s power worked, whether it was a focused point or simply a feeling he got. For all C and Jake knew, they were just speculating. 

“I’m ready to go when you are, old man.” Jake stood up and zipped up the bag. He turned back to the other two once it was closed and smirked. Red got down from the dresser, ready to go himself.

C shook his head some, getting his gun ready. “Just remember; this ‘old man’ killed something you barely got a shot at.” He carefully opened the door and peaked out. Clear so far, but that didn’t mean a lot. He opened it more as he slowly advanced out. A quick look around showed nothing was in the halls. Both sides were cleared as well as the ceiling. It looked like they could continue for the time. How long that would last was the problem.

Jake shook his head at the snark and motioned for the redhead to follow, holding his gun up as he went behind the older man. A good shot didn’t mean much when a body could be hurt easily. But as long as C kept up, he didn’t think there would be much of a problem. 

The walk was in pure silence. It was getting so hard to not hear the sound of fabric rubbing against itself as the three took each step. The halls were quite monotone. Other than the pictures nothing changed. So it was a bit of a surprise when a certain infected started to rub his arm, as though to get something off it. It didn’t seem like there was.

Jake wasn’t paying much attention to it, but eventually, he looked over to Red and looked at how he was reacting. As quietly as he could, he made a small sound to get C’s attention. The older man turned, seeing the young man’s reaction. Looked like a good time to test the theory. It was a shame they had to test it so soon, though.

C placed a hand on Red’s shoulder, hoping to keep him calm. He was quiet, keeping his voice in a whisper. “What do you feel?”

Red blinked a bit and looked at the two. He shook his head slowly, not too sure what he was feeling. He swallowed hard, then looked up passed the other two, from the direction that they had been going towards. It was in front of them. They were going straight to the infected creature up ahead. They just could not get a break at the moment, could they? 

C looked where the redhead was looking, biting his lip. “Alright. You stay here. We can check it out. If you feel like something else is coming towards you, come get us.” He tried smiling, to make Red feel safer in the area. They didn’t need him freaking out.

Jake got his gun up, already slowly heading in the direction that the other pointed them too. He didn’t want to wait to get rid of it. They were in an unsafe area, they couldn’t hear most of the enemy coming unless it made a sound. A hissing or a groaning was normally nice, but some things were silent until they were alerted. That was something he didn’t want to think on. He moved to the corner, listening carefully. There was a sound thankfully, but not the sound one normally likes to hear. Whatever it was, it was eating something. It was distracted for now. And with how it sounded, it was on the ground. They may have been lucky and found themselves something that couldn’t climb the ceiling. If only that had been the first thing they dealt with. 

The man looked over to see his senior stop next to him. Red was sitting on the floor, waiting for them to call the all-clear. He was still rubbing his arm. Well, at least he was out of the danger zone. With that, he looked back into the hall that they were going into. With a deep sigh, he shifted quickly and pointed. 

Three of them. Three human-like shapes were low to the ground devouring the fourth form. They didn’t look like they were going to mutate into a Chrysalid so there were no worries as he shot at them. They were dead before they could fully stand up. Carefully, he walked over to the corpse they had been eating on and shot them in the head as a precaution. They looked like they had been a survivor, just trying to get out of there. Shame they weren’t even close to the door.

Jake looked up to the older man, about to tell him that they need to get moving again when he noted that C wasn’t moving. He was staring at the corpses. It was about then that the young mercenary realized that there hadn’t been any other shots. Just the four he made. C’s gun wasn’t even smoking. The zombies were slow and still, no problem for a sharpshooter, and yet there were no shots. “… C…?” He took a step forward, reaching out.

C didn’t move. He just stared. “I forgot how awful the smell was… Of rotting flesh.” He swallowed hard. His hands slowly moved down to his sides. It almost looked like he would drop his gun. “Didn’t realize I had forgotten that. Forgotten the sight of it…”

There was silence for a few beats. Jake just watched C, trying to figure out what to say. This man hadn’t been in this situation for so long. It must have been a huge shell shock to be introduced to it all over again. What could someone say to that?

“Listen… I know I haven’t been at this very long… But I know that we can’t have many flashback moments. This is hard on you, but we have to get moving. We keep moving, we stay alive. So until we get to a safe spot it is best you not daydream here.” Jake tried to be as sensitive as he could, but it wasn’t easy. They had it easy second time, but the next time could be a brand new horror for them. As much as he wanted to be sympathetic it would have to wait.

It took C a moment, but finally, he nodded. He covered his mouth as he walked to Red, motioning for him to follow again. The younger man got up quickly, confused by the sudden change in how he looked. He was no longer that confident man who didn’t let anything get to him. Red looked at Jake as if wanting him to explain. 

The kid just shook his head, moving to get out of that hallway. Now was not the time to get anything like that out. It was best they just stay moving until they got to safety. However, it was going to be just a little harder now. It was easy to see this was getting to the other man. There was no way he was going to make it easy to get where they needed if they ran into any more infected like the ones he encountered back in Raccoon City. Hopefully, there was not a lot. Hopefully, it was things that either Jake had already experienced, or they were both unfamiliar with. Well… something easy if it wasn’t familiar. 

Right, like anything is easy for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho, boy. These few months were not fun. Trust me on that. But here we are! Next chapter! ^^ Thank you for your patience. The next chapter may be a bit again with the fact I am rewriting it rather than just editing the thing. But I will try to not be so slow this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! Thank you for reading this story that is a few years in the making. No idea how many times I rewrote the first chapter. I thought this would be the perfect time to post this, seeing as the remake for Resident Evil 2 just came out. This started before Resident Evil 7 was finished, so nothing of that game will be involved.
> 
> While the story itself is not finished on paper, I am still very much working on it. 
> 
> I want to give a special thanks to some of my friends. The original BSAA characters are all based on them and I want to say I am happy they let me use them for inspiration. (I even showed the hockey conversation to my two friends. They absolutely loved it). Even the dog is based on a real one (RIP, Knight. I still miss your furry behind).


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